Snyder leads Spartans to road victory over Tigers
SOUTHERN LEHIGH 45, NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH 30
It wasn’t pretty. Both coaches will tell you that, even the winning one.
But when you haven’t lost a regular season league game in 1,457 days, pretty doesn’t really matter.
Senior guard Olivia Snyder scored 23 points with 12 rebounds and seven steals and classmate Ellie Cassel produced 10 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots to lead Southern Lehigh to a 45-30 victory over Northwestern Lehigh on Friday night.
It was the Spartans 69th consecutive Colonial League regular season victory as the program goes for its league record fourth straight league title this season. Only seven of the 69 victories have been decided by less than 10 points.
“It was a great atmosphere,” said Cassel, who along with Snyder has never lost a league game in her four-year career.“It’s always tough to come here and play because they bring their fans and it’s loud. They bring a fight every time we play them. We battled hard and didn’t get down on ourselves. We knew they’d make some runs and we just had to hold them back.”
Northwestern Lehigh (3-1 overall, 1-1 league) missed its first nine attempts from the field but Southern Lehigh (3-1, 3-0) couldn’t take advantage and led just 10-6 after a quarter.
The rest of the first half was dominated by fouling and free throw shooting as the Spartans took their first 10 point lead of the night, 21-11, midway through the second quarter.
“Lots of fouling and too many turnovers,” Spartans coach Matt Cooper said. “Maybe both teams were too up for it. Give Northwestern credit. They got us on our heels early. We switched some things up and we overcame adversity which is important for us to be able to continue to do throughout the season.”
Snyder, an all-state selection last season who will play at Georgetown University at the next level, made just 5 of 16 first half shots but picked it up after intermission.
“I wasn’t hitting my shot early so it came down more to defense to keep us in the game and that’s where [senior guard] Taylor Moncman shined tonight,” Snyder said. “That helped us get in the flow when we finally did. We like to think when you play good defense it’ll carry over to offense.”
Sophomore reserve Kaya Mobley played a significant role when she entered the game with 4:54 left in the first quarter after starting point guard and classmate Jeanne Rautureau picked up her third foul. Solehi seemed to settle down when Mobley came in and she just about played the rest of the game.
“Kaya has a good basketball IQ,” Cooper said. “She’s able to direct traffic and try to get things going. Kaya and Jeanne are a great combo because they have different strengths and weaknesses that help compliments the team. I’m happy to have both.”
Junior guard Sydney Sevrain helped keep the Tigers close with back-toback baskets in the third quarter, including a 3-pointer, to get Northwestern Lehigh to within 24-20. Snyder answered with her own back-toback baskets and Cassel found Alyssa Rice with a pretty pass for a layup to put the Spartans up 31-22 late in the third.
Sevrain made a 3-pointer with a second left in the third quarter but Southern Lehigh ran off the first six points of the final quarter and never let the lead get under double digits again.
Sevrain finished with 13 points for the Tigers.
“There’s a reason why they are the champs and they’re the champs until somebody can beat them,” said Northwestern Lehigh coach Chris Deutsch. “They’re good and they make the plays at the right time. Snyder is a heck of a player. Yes, we’re capable of shooting better. They just wouldn’t go down. But I like my team. We’re young but we’re going to be there at the end.”